You guys. How many times do we have to tell you? Just about every story that makes the news is likely to have a fake GoFundMe page (or a dozen, depending on the popularity of the story and the victims involved) attached to it.
The following story out of Hawaii is no exception.
A heartbroken family still coping with the loss of 19-year-old Kaulana Werner is dealing with a new shock — scammers exploiting the tragedy to make some money.
“It’s just sad that other people will try to benefit from his tragic death,” said Kehau Kaalouahi, Werner’s Godmother.
Werner was killed by a suspected drunk driver last month as he was crossing the road, just feet from his Nanakuli home. He died in his father’s arms.
Kaalouahi created a GoFundMe account to help pay for Werner’s funeral, but was shocked to learn Friday that a separate fake account was created.
Kaalouhi says the tip off was that the scammer not only spelled the teen’s surname wrong (“the Warner family”) but included erroneous details, such as his mother having died from cancer recently. Werner’s mother does not even have cancer.
Werner’s godmother contacted GoFundMe and the fake fundraiser was promptly removed. Which is a bit unfortunate, as no one will have to answer for it. On to the next scam!
Meanwhile, the Facebook page for “Hawaiihelpinghand” has been removed.
